AI tool to improve te reo Māori pronunciation gets $1m boost
4 August 2025
A ground-breaking new project led by Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland is set to transform how te reo Māori is spoken and learned across Aotearoa, thanks to a $1 million research grant.

A three-year initiative will develop an AI-powered coaching tool to help learners improve their pronunciation of te reo Māori – and will include real-time, personalised feedback.
The project, funded by the Ministry of Business and Innovation’s Smart Ideas, is co-led by Māori-medium educator and researcher Dr Piata Allen (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Hinemanu, Ngā Wairiki Ngāti Apa) from the Faculty of Arts and Education and Dr Jesin James (Faculty of Engineering and Design), who works in speech signal processing and machine learning.
The project brings together a multidisciplinary team of Māori language experts, linguists, engineers and computer scientists.
“This tool has the potential to be transformative for our reo and for education in Aotearoa,” says Allen. “It will help people develop muscle memory for pronunciation and supports everyone who works with Māori names and communities to speak confidently.”
Grounded in tikanga Māori, the tool could integrate with existing apps and be accessible to teachers, students, public servants, and anyone engaging with Māori communities.
Allen says pronunciation remains one of the biggest barriers for beginners.
“Even among those who are trying, many are not confident with pronunciation. We want to change that. This tool will support accurate pronunciation in a way that’s empowering and supportive.”
Allen previously developed a successful online te reo Māori pronunciation course for University of Auckland staff and teacher trainees. Her doctoral research explored the interface between mātauranga Māori and school mathematics, and she has led online learning communities across te reo Māori, mathematics, and digital technologies.
The new AI tool builds on decades of research undertaken by Associate Professor Peter Keegan (Waikato-Maniapoto, Ngāti Porou), a leading researcher in Māori and Indigenous language education. It is being developed in partnership with Te Hiku Media, an iwi-led media/technology organisation committed to developing Māori speech tools, Indigenous data sovereignty and the transmission of intergenerational knowledge.
Keegan is known for his work on the MAONZE corpus, an invaluable linguistic resource that tracks changes in pronunciation of te reo Māori and New Zealand English over time. The team includes Professor Catherine Watson from the University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, a specialist in speech technology who co-developed the MPAi Māori pronunciation tool. Watson brings expertise in speech acoustics, pronunciation modelling and machine learning.
“This is about building better relationships through language and honouring te reo Māori, particularly our beautiful names and place names,” says Allen. “It’s going to change what we hear in schools, in health services, in media and on the street.”
The project also carries long-term ambitions to support other endangered and minority languages around the world.
- Only 7.9 percent of New Zealanders say they can speak te reo Māori "fairly well" or better
- 42 percent of Māori adults report speaking te reo Māori well, or very well.
- 80 percent of New Zealanders believe te reo Māori is important to national identity .
Media contact
Te Rina Ruka-Triponel | Kaitohutohu Pāpāho Māori
te.rina.triponel@auckland.ac.nz